Category Archives: Restaurants

‘Sundown Corner,’ Divernon

Posted on March 20, 2026 by editor

Sundown Corner near Divernon was a landmark in the early days of Route 66. The “corner”, at the intersection of Divernon Road and U.S. 66, got its name because the bar/restaurant/service station was a convenient stop for people traveling the … Continue reading →

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The Curve Inn’s curve

Posted on March 3, 2026 by editor

The Curve Inn once sat on an actual curve. The nightspot, housed in a 94-year-old building at 3219 S. Sixth Street Road, was badly damaged by fire in February 2026. The inn originally was near a long curve that connected … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Crime and vice, Fires, Hotels & taverns, Restaurants, Route 66, Social life, Transportation, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Thanksgiving menu at the Oriental Café, 1925

Posted on November 23, 2025 by editor

Cream of oyster soup and Lobster Newburg joined Vermont turkey on the Oriental Café’s holiday menu for Thanksgiving Day 1925. The price? $1.25. The Lum family served Chinese and American dishes at the Oriental, “Springfield’s finest café,” from 1924 to … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Chinese, Ethnic groups, Medicine, Prominent figures, Restaurants | 1 Comment

Forum 30/Wyndham Springfield City Centre

Posted on April 18, 2025 by editor

Three factors drew attention to Springfield’s Forum 30 hotel even before it opened in 1974: its height, its site and its whiz-kid developer. At 30 stories high, the building was the tallest in downstate Illinois – by most measurements even … Continue reading →

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First talking movie

Posted on November 21, 2023 by editor

Harry T. Loper (1860-1948), historically linked to Springfield’s race riot of 1908, also introduced talking movies to Springfield. Loper went into the restaurant business when he moved to Springfield from Greenfield in 1883, and Loper’s Restaurant at 223 S. Fifth … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Architecture, Buildings, Business, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life, Theaters, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

‘A Palatial Barroom’ (1898)

Posted on August 27, 2023 by editor

When Harry Lane opened his new saloon at 415 E. Washington St. in 1898, he wanted you to know: It was no bucket of blood. Rough-and-tumble tipplers patronized the workingmen’s bars (and worse) that lined the streets of “the Levee” … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Buildings, Business, Crime and vice, Hotels & taverns, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Coney Island restaurant

Posted on July 19, 2023 by editor

On a sunny April day in 1989, hungry Springfieldians lined up to savor a hot dog from the Coney Island Restaurant at 114 N. Sixth St.  The line, which wrapped around the block, included citizens from all walks of life, … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Celebrations, Ethnic groups, Greeks, Prominent figures, Restaurants | 5 Comments

Saloon free lunches

Posted on May 18, 2023 by editor

In November 1927, Illinois State Journal writer A.L. Bowen embarked on a three-day series of columns remembering the restaurants, saloons and hotels that dotted downtown Springfield when he arrived in the city at the turn of the 20th century. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Hotels & taverns, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sam Willis, chef

Posted on April 30, 2023 by editor

Thousands of African-Americans fled Springfield in the wake of the 1908 race riot. The city’s best chef may have been one. Samuel Willis (1856-1920), a native of Virginia, moved to Springfield in the 1870s. He apparently learned the restaurant business … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Business, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame members, Sangamon County

Posted on September 19, 2022 by editor

The Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame includes plaques for a dozen – or so, depending on how you count them – inductees from Williamsville to Divernon in Sangamon County. U.S. Route 66, “the Mother Road,” probably the most famous … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Hotels & taverns, Maps, Markers, Museums, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Route 66, State government, Transportation | Leave a comment